Philippines in 2007

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Opponents of Philippine Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo asked voters to treat the national elections held on May 14, 2007, as a referendum on her administration. Some 30 million people voted in the elections, which were marred by violence that claimed at least 126 lives. Arroyo’s supporters won more than 200 of the 219 seats that were contested in the House of Representatives to maintain their control there for another three years. Her opponents, however, claimed 7 of the 12 Senate seats contested, enough to give them control of the 24-seat upper chamber. Once in office, opposition senators quickly reopened an investigation into charges that Arroyo had improperly influenced vote counting in her narrow presidential election victory in 2004. Although the investigation failed to overturn her election to a six-year term, it contributed to a highly partisan situation that slowed or obstructed legislation recommended by Arroyo. Her critics in the Senate also charged her administration with corruption. Arroyo’s support in the lower house, however, protected her from impeachment.

Domestic and international criticism mounted during the year over extrajudicial killings and the disappearances of political activists and religious leaders. A Filipino human rights group said that nearly 1,000 people had been killed or went missing between 2001 and 2006. Many of the victims belonged to organizations that were legal but that Filipino security forces accused of being communist fronts. Supreme Court Chief Justice Reynato Puno declared that the executive and legislative branches of government had failed to safeguard civil liberties in the country. In July Arroyo called for harsher penalties for what she termed “rogue elements” in the military and police force who were involved in political assassinations. She also asked for special courts to try cases of political killings. Many cases remained unresolved.

Filipinos in Manila protest extrajudicial killings in their country during a Supreme Court-led …

Dennis M. Sabangan—epa/Corbis

After a six-year trial, a special court on September 12 convicted former president Joseph Estrada of having taken some $85 million in bribes and kickbacks on government transactions during his time in office (1998–2001). The 70-year-old Estrada was sentenced to up to 40 years in prison, but Arroyo, who had succeeded Estrada as president after public protests over corruption forced him to resign, pardoned him on October 25.

In the southern Philippines, the heaviest fighting in three years disrupted a government cease-fire with Islamic extremists seeking a separate Muslim state. The terrorist groups Abu Sayyaf and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, both of which U.S. officials said were linked to al-Qaeda, on July 10 killed 14 marines in jungle fighting on Basilan island. On nearby Jolo island in August, 26 soldiers were killed. The armed forces launched a widespread counterattack that forced some 24,000 people from their homes. In December the two groups reached a tentative accord, but talks between the separatists and the government stalled.

The Philippine economy saw a 7.5% expansion during the second quarter of the year—its fastest rate of growth in nearly two decades. Economists attributed this to increased government spending on public works and social services. The spending was partly funded by 2006 tax increases that temporarily reduced the budget deficit, but weak tax collections caused the deficit to rise again in the first half of 2007. The economy also benefited from remittances estimated at more than $13 billion a year from some eight million Filipinos working abroad.